This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-243621, filed Aug. 10, 2001 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-75933, filed Mar. 19, 2002.
The present invention relates to a shoe having a belt fastening means with at least a pair of belt members.
Conventionally, especially in a sports shoe, a fastening structure with a shoelace was commonly used to close and fasten an opening portion of a shoe to secure the upper of the shoe to a wearer""s foot. Recently, a belt fastening means with a hook and loop fastening material has been used.
A belt fastening means of the prior art has a belt that is provided on one side of an opening portion of an upper and that has one piece of a hook and loop fastening material attached to a distal end of the belt. The other piece of the hook and loop fastening material is attached on the other side of the opening portion of the upper. By pulling the belt and fastening one piece of the hook and loop fastening material at the distal end of the belt to the corresponding other piece of the hook and loop fastening material on the upper, the belt is fastened to a shoe.
Such a belt fastening means is superior in that it eliminates the need to secure a shoelace with a knot and allows for easy opening and closing of the shoe. However, in fastening a belt, only one side of the upper relative to the opening portion is tightly pulled. As a result, the upper deforms and fittability of a shoe decreases.
An attempt was made to solve this problem in a shoe shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Examined Publication No. 62-35364 or Japanese Utility Model Application Unexamined Publication No. 59-16406. A belt fastening means described in these publications has a pair of belts provided on both sides of the upper and crossed in an X-shape over the opening portion. Each belt is detachably fastened on the upper through a hook and loop fastening material.
In such a belt fastening means, by pulling each belt, it is possible to pull opposite sides of the upper nearly equally. However, in this case, each belt is pulled in a diagonal direction relative to a shoe width direction over the opening portion of the upper, thereby causing a wrinkle on the upper, and it becomes difficult to secure the upper equally to a foot.
In a prior-art belt fastening means shown in FIG. 1 of the present application, each of the belts 100, 101 is pulled in a shoe width direction over an opening portion 110. However, in this case, the belt 100 adapted to pull a lateral side of the upper toward a medial side and the belt 101 adapted to pull the medial side of the upper toward the lateral side are shifted or offset in a longitudinal direction of the shoe. Thus, when each of the belts 100, 101 is pulled in an opposite direction, the upper is twisted, thereby decreasing fittability of the upper.
Japanese Patent Application Laying Open Publication No. 9-28413 shows a belt fastening means having a belt provided on one side of the upper and a D-shaped ring attached on the other side of the upper. By inserting the belt into the ring, folding back and pulling the belt, the opposite sides of the upper are nearly equally pulled and the upper is secured to a foot without twisting the upper. However, in this case, at the time of bending of a foot, D-shaped ring may interfere with a foot and hinder the movement of the foot.
The present invention is directed to solving the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a shoe with a belt fastening means that can secure an upper equally to a foot and that can advance fittability without hindering the movement of a foot.
The present invention is directed to a belt fastening means with improved fittability for a shoe.
In one preferred embodiment, a shoe is formed of a sole and an upper attached to the sole. The upper has a longitudinally extending opening portion formed at an instep portion thereof. The instep portion has a medial and lateral side located on opposite sides of the opening portion, and a belt fastening means provided across the opening portion in a lateral direction. The belt fastening means is comprised of first and second belt members that are disposed at generally symmetrical positions with respect to the opening portion. Each of the first and second belt members extends in a direction generally perpendicular to xe2x80x9ca ridge linexe2x80x9d of the instep portion as viewed from a side of the shoe. Proximal end portions of the first and second belt members are connected to the sole and distal end portions thereof extend over the opening portion. The second belt member has an elongated aperture into which the first belt member is inserted. The elongated aperture may extend along the length of the second belt member and it faces the opening portion. The first and second belt members are releasably attached to the instep portion through hook and loop fastening materials provided on the belt members.
According to this embodiment, each of the first and second belt members extends in a direction generally orthogonal to xe2x80x9ca ridge linexe2x80x9d of the instep portion, or xe2x80x9ca swell linexe2x80x9d that extends from a position corresponding to a navicular bone of a wearer""s foot to a position corresponding to a head of a metatarsus of a second or third toe, as viewed from a side of the shoe. And these belt members are disposed at symmetrical positions with respect to the opening portion. Thus, when pulling each distal end portion of the belt members in an opposite direction, the medial and lateral sides of the instep portion of the upper are equally pulled without causing torsion or wrinkles on the upper, thus securing the instep portion of the upper equally to a foot and making the whole surfaces of the belt members on the instep portion""s side tightly contact with the instep portion. As a result, the whole instep of a wearer""s foot can be supported in such a manner as to be wrapped by the upper of a shoe and fittability of the shoe can be improved.
Also, since each proximal end of the first and second belt members are connected to the sole, a foot can be tightly secured to the sole through extending portions of the belt members on the medial and lateral sides of the upper when each distal end portion of the taut belt members are fastened to the instep portion of the upper.
Moreover, in this case, not a slit but an elongated aperture extending along the length of the second belt member is formed in the second belt member and this elongated aperture faces the opening portion of the upper. Thus, insertion and extraction of the first belt member relative to the second belt member can be conducted with ease, and besides, individual differences of the height of an instep or the width of a foot can be absorbed and fittability can be maintained.
Furthermore, in this case, since each belt member is secured to the instep portion of the upper through a hook and loop fastening material without using a metal fitting such as a D-shaped ring, the movement of a foot is not hindered and a shoe wearer does not feel uncomfortable when bending a foot.
In another embodiment, each proximal end of the first and second belt members is connected to a sole through a reinforcement member or strip provided on the upper. In this case as well, as with the above-mentioned embodiment where each proximal end of the belt members is directly connected or fixed to a sole, when each distal end portion of the taut belt members is fastened to the instep portion, a wearer""s foot can be tightly secured to the sole of a shoe through the medially and laterally extending portions of the belt members and the reinforcement members.
In still another embodiment, the second belt member is bifurcated at a region extending from a proximal end portion to an elongated aperture and a band-shaped tab is formed integrally with a distal end portion of the second belt member. In this case, when fastening belts, insertion and extraction of the first belt member relative to the second belt member can be conducted with more ease. Also, by utilizing the tab provided at the distal end portion of the second belt member, the second belt member can be easily gripped, thereby facilitating fastening of the belts.
In a further embodiment, a plurality of pairs of the first and second belt members are provided. In this case, a plurality of portions of the instep of a foot can be secured and fittability of a shoe can be further advanced.